RECLAMATION OF 250 ACRES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 28 November 1938, Page 8

RECLAMATION OF 250 ACRES

SUGGESTION FOR EARLY SETTLERS’ MEMORIAL DEVELOPMENT OF NELSON NORTH The reclamation of 250 acres of foreshore on the north of Nelson nas been suggested by Mr James Wyllie to the Early Settlers’ Memorial Association as a suitable memorial to mark Nelson s centenary. He suggests that a Memorial Hall and a grandstand could be erected on the reclaimed area. Discussing the question of costs Mr Wyllie referred to a report which appeared as follows in a recent issue of “The Kilmarnock Standard” in connection with the construction of the Zuider Zee:— “On Thursday the weekly lunch hour meeting of the Kilmarnock Rotary Club, presided over by President Robert Brown, was addressed by Mr George S. Barry. County Surveyor, whose subject was ‘The Reclamation of the Zuider Zee.’ In the course of half-an-hour’s talk Mr Barry outlined this great engineering project which is at present being carried out. It was no doubt, he said, due to the fact that the area of the Zuider Zee was at one time dry land supporting a considerable population that imbued the Dutch wdth the idea of recovering that area from the sea and making it once again a source of production. The original scheme was prepared in 1892 by a Dutch civil engineer named Dr. Lely, and the scheme, fully approved by the Netherlands Government in 1919, and now being carried out. was largely based upon his plan. “Broadly, the reclamation scheme consisted of five parts: An area of nearly 50.000 acres lying between the Island of Wieringen and the mainland of North Holland which.bad already been completed, an area of 110,000 acres lying between the Island of Urk and the mainland of Overyssel which was now being carried out, two areas in the south which together amounted to 370.000 acres, and the building of a great dam or dyke, with high speed road on top, across the mouth of the Zuider Zee which was completed. When a part of the sea was enclosed by means of a dyke and the water pumped out of it the resulting land was known as a polder. But this area, formerly the bed of the sea, contained much salt and a few years had to elapse before the salt could be eliminated and the soil rendered fit for cultivation. Moreover, there was the formation of canals and roads and the building of farms, houses, etc., upon the new area. The Wieringermeer polder, completed a few years ago, was a notable example of what would be done. Not very long ago it was covered by the waters of the Zuider Zee, and now it was an area with villages and farms, cultivated land with rich crops of cereals and roots, ana grazing for thousands of stock. The same result would be achieved when the other three areas were reclaimed. Important and valuable though these works were, the speaker said that in his opinion the most outstanding part of the scheme was the construction or the great dyke across the mouth of the Zuider Zee and extending to over 20 miles. That great barrier partitioned the Zuider Zee and protected it from the fury of the North Sea. Near each 4nd of it were a series of gigantic sulices and a battery of Diesel pumps by which the waters of the Zuider Zee were maintained at the proper level. A high speed road running along the top of the dyke made it now possible to travel by bus or car from North Holland to Friesland in less than an hour. “It would take many years before the whole reclamation project reached completion, but the result would be an t ridition of fully half a million acres to the country or 10 per cent, increase of cultivated land, providing accommodation for 6000 holdings and work for nearly 300,000 people, at present unemployed. The Zuider Zee would by then be reduced to about one-third its present size and become an inland, tideless. and fresh water lake. The whole project was a splendid example of the industry and determination of the people of Holland, and a tribute to the great skill of her engineers.”